Wooster Turns Home-Field Advantage Into 2-1 Win in NCAA Opener

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster overcame a slow start, scoring once late in the first half and a second time with 19:28 remaining in the second for a 2-1 comeback win over Hamilton College in an NCAA Div. III Field Hockey Championship first-round game Wednesday afternoon at Andrew Turf Field at John P. Papp Stadium.

Wooster (17-5), which was hosting an NCAA postseason game in the sport of field hockey for the first time, advances to the round of 16 and will play at No. 2 ranked Salisbury University (16-1) this Saturday at 10 a.m. The victory was the Fighting Scots' second all-time in the national tourney (ninth game) and first since 1985.

With North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament MVP Stephanie Standera being forced out of the game less than a minute into play due to injury, Hamilton (12-5) dominated much of the opening 10 minutes, recording five penalty corners and four shots. The score remained 0-0, though, and Standera returned, which momentarily gave Wooster the momentum as it forced a couple of corners on the offensive end.

Following the Scots' second corner, the Continentals moved the ball back down field and lit up the board when Catie Torcivia made a short pass inside the circle to teammate Colleen Callaghan, who fired it into the right side of the cage with 21:09 on the clock.

Neither offense had any good scoring looks over the next several minutes until Maddie Hart came down the right side and made a move to get past a defender for a one-on-one with the Hamilton goalie, but Courtney DeMaria came up with the nice stop to keep her squad up 1-0 with a little more than 4:00 left in the opening half. Just a bit later, Hart made good on another opportunity, this time receiving a pass from Eileen Barrer, who slid it past a drawn-out DeMaria, and touching it in. The score came from a bit of a surprising source, as it marked just Hart's second goal over the last 12 games.

In the second, the Continentals again came out controlling the action as they fired off the first five shots, however, the Scots' initial attempt of the period would find its mark.

With just under 20 minutes to go, Anna Divis, a freshman making just her fourth start due to another injury on the team, drove a long ball up field. It appeared a Hamilton defender was going to clear, but Brittany Montgomery stole it, then used quick stick skills to get around her, brought it into the circle, and beat the goalie one-on-one with a shot to the right. It was Montgomery's sixth goal of the last four games.

The final 19:28 featured some tense moments for the Wooster defense, but 'keeper Madalyn Myers and company came through each time. The Continentals' best opportunity occurred just under the 15-minute mark when Mary Lancaster blasted one from a few feet inside the circle and past a back, only to see Myers calmly produce the foot save. She made her seventh and final save on another Callaghan attempt four minutes later, and Hamilton's last-ditch effort included a shot with about 90 seconds remaining that was blocked by a defender.

Overall, the Continentals owned an 18-8 advantage in shots and 12-8 in corners.